Black Phone 2 Trailer: Ethan Hawke's masked killer is back to traumatise kids

Universal Pictures, the distributor of Black Phone 2, released the first official trailer for the sequel to the 2022 horror film from Blumhouse Productions. The Scott Derrickson directorial brings back the original cast Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies and Miguel Mora.

The first film, The Black Phone, follows Hawke's killer, named The Grabber, clad in a black outfit and behind a mask, who kidnaps kids and keeps them locked up in a shabby room with an old-fashioned phone. The film ends with Thames' character Finney Blake killing The Grabber and escaping the room. However, the sequel brings The Grabber back, only to further traumatise children.

The trailer shows Finney Blake having a conversation with The Grabber. "You are dead," says Blake, to which The Grabber replies, "You, of all people, know that 'dead' is just a word." Going by the trailer, Black Phone 2 has shades of Netflix's Stranger Things.

The Black Phone became a critical and commercial success, earning over $160 million at the global box office. The sequel to The Black Phone brings back director and co-writer Derrickson and his co-writer C Robert Cargill.

Jason Blum is producing the film under his namesake banner, alongside Derrickson and Cargill. With production complete, Black Phone 2 is slated for an October 17 release in theatres.